Scottish Catholic Observer

POPE Francis has entered the debate over Scottish independence by saying that it must be ‘handled with care.’

In an interview with a Catalan newspaper, the Pope was asked if he was worried about the risk of separation between Spain and Catalunya.

The Holy Father replied that he was worried about ‘any division’ and in his answer he touched on the Scottish situation.

“There is independence by emancipation and independence by secession,” he said. “The independences by emancipation, for example, are American, that they were emancipated from the European states. The independences of nations by secession is a dismemberment, sometimes it’s very obvious.”

The Holy Father went on to say that every case for independence had to looked at individually.

“Let’s think of the former Yugoslavia. Obviously, there are nations with cultures so different that couldn’t even be stuck together with glue,” he said. “The Yugoslavian case is very clear, but I ask myself if it is so clear in other cases—Scotland, Padania, Catalunya. There will be cases that will be just and cases that will not be just, but the secession of a nation without an antecedent of mandatory unity, one has to take it with a lot of grains of salt and analyse it case by case.”

The Pope’s comments attracted praise from the Scottish Church as a useful guide for Scottish Catholics.

Peter Kearney, the director of the Scottish Catholic Media Office said of the remarks that ‘although addressing the situation in Catalunya, the Pope’s comments are measured and thoughtful and do not seek to prejudge the outcome of any political process.’

John Deighan, the Scottish Bishop Conference’s parliamentary officer, said that both sides in the referendum debate could take positives from the Holy Father’s comments.

To that end, both the Yes and No camps had praise for the Holy Father’s comments.

Dave Thompson, SNP MSP for Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch and convener of Christians for Independence, welcomed the comments of Pope Francis that any proposal for independence ‘must be studied on a case-by-case’ basis.

“Indeed, the Vatican is one of the few international organisations where Scotland has always had independent representation,” he said.

On the other side of the debate, Stirling Labour MP Anne McGuire said that the Pope’s intervention showed the positives that could underpin a No vote.

“This is an interesting and welcome intervention from Pope Francis,” she said. “The Pope is right to warn about the impact of division on society, and to draw the distinction between independence for emancipation and that for secession.”

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- Read the full version of this story in June 20 edition of the SCO.